I will cast my cares on you

So, humble yourselves under God’s strong hand, and in his own good time he will lift you up. You can throw the whole weight of your anxieties upon him, for you are his personal concern.  (I Peter 5:6-7 PHILLIPS)  

There is a song which comes to me, many times in the wee hours of the dark night when I am just there in bed, awake for no apparent reason with my head rushing from one thought to another.  It is the song "Cast My Cares".  The chorus is my favorite part of the song: "I will cast my cares on you. You're the anchor of my hope, the only one who's in control. I will cast my cares on you. I'll trade the troubles of this world for your peace inside my soul."  The song is written by Blake Neesmith, Casey Brown, and Sam Tinnesz - three individuals singing as "Finding Favour".  I am not sure why this song repeatedly comes to mind in those hours, but I think you know where I am going with this - those things running around in my head aren't going to be "fixed" because I am losing sleep ruminating on them!  When I place them squarely into the strong hands of Jesus, they are lifted from my mind, releasing my body (and soul) to finally rest.

The words of the chorus which speak the loudest to me in the "quietest of times" are the ones about God being the anchor of my hope - the only one who is actually totally in control!  Why do those words mean so much to me?  I am one of those people who thinks they can find the solutions to things - and many times God guides me to do just that.  I can never forget he is the one guiding me into those solutions, though!  It isn't because I "control" the situation, or really influence the outcome.  It is simply me yielding to his direction, giving way to his plans - this how the the solutions come.

An anchor holds one firm - so the things attempting to set us adrift don't actually accomplish that feat.  When an anchor is firmly planted, it has the ability to hold well beyond the weight of the anchor.  I am amazed at the "smallness" of the anchor in comparison to the "vastness" of the ship!  It isn't the size of the anchor, it is the "hold" the anchor obtains when it is allowed to do what it was designed to do.  When we anchor our thoughts in Christ, we find our mind wanders less into places it should not be, entertaining thoughts not meant for us to entertain.  When we anchor our hope in Christ's ability and not our own, we find we have a hold not easily broken, even when the realization of the goal is still not present with us.

As our passage points out today, we are the object of God's personal concern (his personal care).  The "casting" of one's cares upon him is really allowing our hearts, minds, and souls to take "anchor" in the "solidness" of his care.  We stop trying to find "anchor" in our own solutions, and we allow the "hold" we seek to be found in him.  We can try to figure life out on our own, or we can allow our lives to be kept from being set adrift by anchoring into the hope we have in his ability and carefulness over our lives.  I choose the latter - even if it means I have to keep reminding myself where my anchor is secured over and over again until my mind catches up with my heart!  Just sayin!

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